For those of you who can't attend the con, can't make the fanfiction panel,
or are completely asleep during the panel because you partied way too much...

our WINNERS:

GRAND PRIZE: Confession (Get Backers)

BEST PLOTTING: Land of Silent Silhouettes (Kino's Journey)

BEST PROSE: Lemon Tea (Full Metal Alchemist)

BEST CHARACTERIZATION (AND ROMANCE): Firewall (Ghost in the Shell)

BEST USE OF SETTING: The Prices Paid (Full Metal Alchemist)

MOST ORIGINAL (AND SILLIEST): Happy Birthday Itachi-kun!!

BEST EMOTIONAL IMPACT: Brothers (Suikoden)

We'd also like to compliment the story's "Flay's Revenge" which gave us the
line "She was a monkey with a spoon against Godzilla."

AMV CONTEST

15 Judges in three different cities and two countries spent hours judging
and prejudging this year’s crop of AMVs. We had a lot of high-calibre
entries this year. We’re sorry if your video did not make the finals, but
the judges could only take so many Final Fantasy: Advent Children videos
before they started to go loopy. This was also the first year in a while
that we had to make a separate block for entries that we reclassified
alternative because they were judged to contain too much graphic content to
be shown in the main programming blocks. (Apologies to the creators, but
there is no way we could show graphic dismemberment, hardcore pr0n,
torture, and beating puppies to death before midnight. @_@ )

Honourable Mentions:
“Diving” by Jonathan Doda and Tabitha Lulham.
The Novice Runner-up, the synthetic music and lyrics matched well with the
footage from Ghost in the Shell 2nd Gig, providing a glimpse into what it
might feel like to travel through cyberspace.

“We All Live in Azumerica” by Todd Serge.
This delightfully subversive warning against American cultural imperialism
using Azumanga Daioh characters set to German hard rock scored high marks
with the judges, but not quite high enough to score an award.

“Everything I Know = Weird^2” by Miles Klub.
Blending the quirky lyrics of Weird Al Yankovic with the insanity of Excel
Saga footage, the solid editing and catchy tune made this entry a judges’
favourite.

Newbie Award for Best Novice Video:
“Always Searching for You” by Melissa Shaw.
Melissa took a classic Spice Girls ballad and added footage from Tsubasa
Reservoir Chronicle that matched her artistic intent, crafting a sad and
nostalgic drama about Shaoran and Sakura’s relationship in the series. We
look forward to seeing what she will create for the Open Competition next year.

Momiji’s Challenge Award for best video with a country and western theme:
“Sue” by Michelle Girard.
Using the Johnny Cash classic “A Boy named Sue”, Michelle took Full Metal
Alchemist and Street Fighter II V footage to create a humorous tale of a
boy is search of his deadbeat dad just so he could try to beat the snot out
of him for making him so short… er, naming him Sue.

Criterion Award for Editing:
“Chapter 219” by Mike Martignetti.
Mike wowed the Judges with his fresh take on the Naruto series by skilfully
setting the scenes in a panel-by-panel format and adding the appropriate
Sum 41 lyrics in word balloons around the characters. In effect, he created
something new – a black-and-white manga come to life and turned into a full
audio-visual experience for the viewer.

Criterion Award for Cinematography:
“Worlds Unbroken” by Laura and Valerie Fremmerlid.
Laura and Val mated the earnest music of Jars of Clay to the beautiful
animation of the series “Air” to create an entry that submerged the judges
into the video’s environment, while depicting an uplifting and moving
portrayal of the two couples paralleled in the series that struck a chord
with the judges.

Criterion Award for Creativity:
“StopWatchingAnimeandGoOutside” by Tim Park.
Tim utilized many different anime series and crafted them around the
original tune “There is Life Outside your Apartment” from the soundtrack of
the off-Broadway musical Avenue Q. The judges agreed that this video is a
“Vital Message to all Otaku about the importance of fresh air and
socialization.”

Criterion Award for Artistic Vision:
“Top of the World” by Fred Graupp.
Fred’s artistic vision was to combine old anime and even older music in a
simple yet clean style and keep the focus on emotional delivery and
character interactions. The result was a pleasant and sentimental journey
to a bygone era that was easy for the judges to watch.

The Momiji no Video Award for Judges Choice:
“Azumanga DIE-OH 2” by Justin Rollins.
This second instalment of his comedic Azumanga Daioh character profile
focuses on the inter-relationships between some of the characters on the
show. By a narrow margin, the judges liked this video best overall.

The Northern Lights Award for Best Overall Anime Music Video:
“Resident Eva: Apocalypse” by Ashley Hakker.
This parody of the Resident Evil Movie Trailer using Neon Genesis
Evangelion footage impressed the judges enough that it achieved the highest
overall technical mark this year.

Well, those were the winners for this year's competition. Thanks to all the
participants and we look forward to seeing what you will come up with next
year.

Sadly, this is my last year in charge of the Competition since I need to
devote my time to raising my three kids. Try not to give my successor too
hard a time next year, okay?

JROCK NORTH

Cosplay Contest Winners

1st: Garden Toshiya2nd: Zetsu Uruha3rd: Garnet Hizumi

J-Star

Winners:

1st: Kristine Eugenio2nd: Keely Jewett3rd: Lillian Jia

I'd also like to thank everyone who attended Sunday's concert. I'm sure
Lamia, Enchanter, and Resonance had a great time because of you.